One of the most anticipated StarCraft 2 tournaments is just around the corner, with the world's best players getting ready to fight for their share of $500,000 in prize money.
A legendary esports event, the Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Katowice is a CS:GO tournament held in Poland. In this guide, we'll go over all the participating teams, details about the schedule, as well as everything you need to know about IEM CS:GO betting!
The Dota Pro Circuit is in full flow. The next big tournament in this seasonal circuit is the PGL Arlington Major. Texas is the location, Esports Stadium Arlington is the venue of choice, and seventeen brilliant Dota 2 teams will be eyeing their chances here.
The LEC (League of Legends European Championship) is entering a new decade starting with the inaugural Winter split. From team rosters to an all-new tournament format, the league will be seeing much more competition.
Team Liquid’s (TL) LoL and CS:GO teams are some of the best in the world, but are they the esports organisation to bet on in 2021? Find out who TL’s best players are, in which competitions they’re competing, and where to follow the team in this in-depth article.
The Team Liquid esports team was founded an incredible 21 years ago and now has an astounding 17 different divisions, covering all the major esports like Counter-Strike, League of Legends (LoL), Dota 2 and StarCraft 2. They also have teams competing in Street Fighter, PUBG and Rocket League.
For LoL, the current Team Liquid roster is Alphari (Barney Morris, UK), Santorin (Lucas Larsen, Denmark), Jensen (Nicolaj Jensen, Denmark), Tactical (Edward Ra, US) and CoreJJ (Jo Yong-in, South Korea).
Team Liquid’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) roster consists of EliGE (Jonathan Jablonowski, US), NAF (Keith Markovic, Canada), FalleNCS (Gabriel Toledo, Brazil), Stewie2K (Jacky Yip, US) and grim (Michael Wince, US).
For a team that’s been around for more than two decades, it’s no surprise Team Liquid has collected more prize money than any other esports organisation. That being said, exactly who are the best of the best? Which Team Liquid players are bringing success to the franchise?
One such individual would be Team Liquid's CS:GO player EliGE, who has made career earnings of more than $987,396. The 23-year-old North American joined Team Liquid in 2015, making him the longest-serving member of the CS:GO team.
Moreover, another current player who has raked in significant career winnings is Korean LoL fiend Jo “CoreJJ” Yong In. His total earnings amount to $589,421, and he has finished first in competitions such as the LoL 2017 World Championship, which was worth $309,185. This win also played a part in convincing Team Liquid to make him part of the Team Liquid LoL roster.
Keith “NAF” Markovic, a Team Liquid CS:GO player since February 2018, has already won $1,038,215 at the tender age of 23. Arguably his greatest achievement was coming first place in the Intel Grand Slam Season 2, an accolade that earned him $200,000 and Team Liquid CS:GO a cool one million dollars. However, NAF is the kind of CS:GO player who loves to compete for cash. In fact, he has won 28 cash prizes worth at least $10,000 in cities as disparate as São Paulo in Brazil, Montreal in Canada and Sydney in Australia. NAF is a good example of how big an esport CS:GO is, and how much there is to win by being involved in the community.
We also cannot neglect to mention the Brazilian CS:GO star FalleN, a.k.a. Gabriel Toledo – the best player from the land of Samba, feijoada and football.
Arguably one of the top 10 esports players in the world, Ivan Ivanov, a.k.a. MinD_ContRoL, was a member of Team Liquid’s Dota 2 team from October 2015 until September 2019. Throughout his career, Ivan has earned $4,588,016.
One player who has even greater career earnings than MinD_ContRoL, and also graced the colours of Team Liquid, is Kuro “KuroKy” Takhasomi, 28. He, like Ivan Ivanov, left TL to join Nigma. KuroKy has earned a huge $5.2 million from esports competition in Dota 2. Almost $4.5 million of that was earned as a member of the Team Liquid Dota 2 team.
If you are considering betting on esports games, gambling on CS:GO is an excellent place to start.
Team Liquid is involved in StarCraft 2, LoL, Hearthstone, CS:GO, Dota 2, Super Smash Bros, PUBG, Quake, Rainbow Six Siege, Clash Royale, Fortnite, Apex Legends, Auto Battler, Free Fire, Rocket League and Valorant.
Believe it or not, League of Legends is not one of Team Liquid’s stronger fortes. Team Liquid arguably has much better reputations when it comes to Fortnite, StarCraft 2, CS:GO, and far ahead in the number one spot, Dota 2.
As a matter of fact, Team Liquid LoL’s best win so far was very recently, when they won the LCS 2020 Lock In in January 2021. That win brought them $150,000, and perhaps sent a warning that the Team Liquid LoL roster presents a fierce challenge for all competitors taking part in major LoL tournaments in 2021 and beyond.
There’s been a major change to the make-up of Team Liquid recently, as we saw coach Jason O’Toole, 34, depart. With O’Toole at the helm, Team Liquid CS:GO achieved runner-up in the IEM Global Challenge 2020, ESL One Cologne 2020 NA and DreamHack Open Summer 2020.
So are Team Liquid a good option for CS:GO betting? Well, the team looks to be in good shape, able to call on the talent of FalleN, NAF, grim, Stewie2K and EliGE. Recent events of note include a huge loss to FaZe Clan at the Blast Premier Spring Groups 2021, before Liquid got revenge with a 16-6 reversal at IEM Katowice.
As we mentioned, the Team Liquid Dota 2 team is arguably the most successful from the franchise, and could be a smart choice for Dota 2 betting. This team, no matter the players involved, tend to hit form at the big-money tournaments. Although in 2020 they only earned just over $400k, with winning ESL One Germany 2020 – Online the highlight, they tend to perform well at The International, which they won in 2017. They will be hoping to claim part of the astronomic $40 million prize pool on offer at The International 2021.
Despite a good start to competitive Fortnite, the Team Liquid Fortnite roster stands at just three players, possibly suggesting the organisation doesn’t plan to invest in this particular esport right now. Riversan, Mitr0 and 72hrs currently make up the team. Riversan is one to watch, though. He came 9th in the Fortnite World Cup Finals (solo) in 2019, winning $300,000. That year, his now teammate Mitr0 came sixth in the Fortnite World Cup (duo), earning $225,000. It would be a shame not to build around what is clearly high-level talent. Keep an eye on this team’s progress before adding them to your Fortnite betting plans.
Team Liquid launched a Valorant team onto the scene in August 2020 when the new esport was just getting started, and it is already showing signs of potential. At the time of writing, there are Valorant betting odds on all the best esports betting sites. In May 2021, they qualified for the Valorant Master LAN in Iceland, after beating other big game, Fnatic, 3-2. TL's Valorant team is perhaps worth keeping tabs on for British esports betting fans, as three of their players – L1NK, Kryptix and soulcas – are from the UK.
Team Liquid’s PUBG roster is made up of Jord van Geldere, aka Ibiza (Netherlands), Jim Eliassen, aka jeemzz (Norway), mxey, aka Anssi Pekkonen (Finland) and clib, aka Nikolaj Haugaard (Denmark). In March 2021, the team came 15th in the PUBG Global Invitational.S 2021 Main Event. In the biggest S-Tier tournaments, Team Liquid PUBG have earned six second places and two third-place finishes, showing they could be on the verge of something special. Due to their lack of wins, they are unlikely to be favourites in tournaments in 2021; if you want to try PUBG betting and are feeling lucky, however, they could potentially offer a lot of value should your bets come through.
Liquid Sc2 is made up of Clem (Clément Desplanches, 19), Harstem (Kevin de Koning, 26), Kelazhur (Diego Schwimer), MaNa (Grzegorz Komincz, 27) and uThermal (Mark Schlappi, 25).
Team Liquid Sc2 have performed well in esports competitions, coming first in the Champions Brawl in April 2021 and winning the ESL Open Cup #50 Europe in December 2020. They could be an interesting option for StarCraft betting in 2021.
Team Liquid are such a big name that you can expect to find odds on them in most major esports competitions. Below are just a few of the bigger events in which they may be taking part.
The ESL Pro Tour features three esports: CS:GO, StarCraft 2 and Warcraft 3, presenting lots of interesting opportunities for punters. The Tour features eight different events throughout the year, including IEM Katowice, DreamHack Masters, IEM Summer, Fall and Winter, and more. Clem from Team Liquid Sc2 came 8th at IEM Katowice 2021. In the ESL Pro League Season 13, Team Liquid CS:GO came ninth.
This year, the DreamHack Masters, sponsored by 1xBet, will be held completely online, offering a tasty prize pool of $100,000. Team Liquid CS:GO won the event in Dallas, US, in 2019, so they’ll be hoping to get back to the top. However, Natus Vincere won the DreamHack Masters Spring 2021 event, so they could be favourites for the main prize.
The PGL Major Stockholm 2021 offers an awesome $2 million prize pool, and is set to get underway in October. Whether Team Liquid get the chance to compete depends on how well they perform in events like the BLAST Premier Series and the ESL Pro Tour. The better they do in these tournament circuit events, the more points they’ll earn towards qualifying for the PGL Major in Sweden.
The Blast Premier World Final, sponsored by Betway esports, will take place in December, and Team Liquid CS:GO will be hoping to get a share of the $1 million prize pool. The winning team will take home $500,000. You can view the event live for free on YouTube, or watch and bet on Team Liquid at various esports gambling sites.
Before betting on Team Liquid, why not keep track of their form by watching them play and tracking their results on social media and other digital channels?
Team Liquid has a new service for fans called Liquid+. If you register with Liquid+, you can earn points on social media, which can lead to rewards from the Liquid+ Shop. The more you engage with Team Liquid’s social channels, the more you can earn.
There is a Team Liquid YouTube channel with high-quality videos and vlogs of the team’s matches and what goes on behind the scenes. You can see how the team competes, as well as get to know the players a little better.
Team Liquid has a thriving Twitch channel with streams of action from esports like Smash Bros. Ultimate, Clash Royale, and LoL. While Liquid hosts matches from big tournaments on their Twitch, they also broadcast streams of members discussing esports and other more casual, fun gaming content. Why not follow Team Liquid on Twitch?
You can also follow the latest Team Liquid discussion and news on Reddit, where you'll find practically everything related to TL worth watching or reading. One of the benefits of using this platform is that you can talk about Team Liquid betting with other knowledgeable esports fans. You never know what sort of Team Liquid betting tips you might get from Redditors!
From the Team Liquid store, you can buy all sorts of Team Liquid merchandise, plus a wide range of fashionable and attractive items.
Considering this is an esports organisation, there are lots of items of clothing to choose from, like T-shirts, hoodies, and jackets, along with hats and teamwear. Liquid even does clothing collabs with brands like Naruto, Stance and tokidoki.
Team Liquid is a major esports organisation.
Team Liquid is originally from the Netherlands, but their LoL and CS:GO teams started in the United States.
If you want to join Team Liquid, the good news is that there are always jobs available that allow you to contribute to the team’s success. If you want to play for the team, though, you’ll need to prove yourself as a player.
The team’s horse logo is inspired by a painting called Avalanche by Jim Warren.
Team Liquid is valued at $310 million.